Danger Close by James Sumner (classic novels for teens txt) 📕

small teddy bear, roughly twelve inches long, dressed in a blue sweater and red hat. He held it up so that Collins could see.

“Teddy bears?” said Collins.

“I don’t understand,” said Jericho. “Our intel was solid. We saw the satellite feeds. We know Tristar are shipping weapons out of here.”

Collins walked over to the crates, keeping the gun trained on Tully one-handed. He reached inside and grabbed another bear, examining it closely.

“I mean… are they, like, dangerous teddy bears?” He shook it next to his ear curiously.

Jericho ripped the head off the bear he was holding, then pulled the stuffing out, searching inside it to no avail. He discarded it and leaned inside the crate, repeating the process with a few others to the same result. Finally, he began unceremoniously tossing all the bears out across the floor, looking to the bottom of the crate for any signs of illegal arms trafficking.

Collins scoffed. “Man, I bet the temper tantrums ya threw as a kid were something else. Jesus…”

Jericho stepped back and stared at the crate. “Nothing. I don’t get it.”

Collins knelt beside Tully, prodding his head with the barrel of the gun. “Hey, numbnuts, what gives? Where’s all ya guns and the like, eh?”

Tully moved his hand away from his nose. “Go to hell.”

“Ah, bollocks to ya.” Collins slammed the gun into the side of Tully’s head, knocking him out. “Jerry, maybe we should, ya know, make like a shepherd and get the flock outta here. No way these assholes don’t have back-up.”

Jericho shook his head. “We’re not leaving without the evidence.”

“We have the drive. That’s good data right there.”

“No, Ray, that’s proof that Tristar Security is shipping teddy bears overseas. Sadly, that isn’t illegal. We have to find hard proof of weapons trafficking…” He trailed off. “Wait a minute.”

Collins frowned. “What is it?”

Jericho looked inside the now-empty crate, then stepped back to look at the outside.

“Sonofabitch,” he muttered.

“Jerry, can ya stop speaking in riddles and tell me—”

Jericho grabbed the side of the crate and tore it off with little more than a grunt. It splintered and snapped as almost the entire piece of wood cracked apart. He tossed it aside.

“Never mind,” said Collins, moving to his side. “Christ…”

The two of them looked at what remained of the crate. The bottom of it was false. Exposed beneath it was a row of weapons.

They looked at each other and smiled.

“Bingo,” said Jericho. He retrieved his phone so that he could take a picture.

Behind them, a crackle of static buzzed. They both turned as a distorted voice spoke out.

“Tully, are you there? What’s going on?” There was a pause. “Tully? Okay, we’re sending a team to your location right now.”

They looked at each other again.

“Hate to say I told ya so, Jerry, but ya best get ya pictures,” said Collins. “We’re about to have company.”

Jericho crouched in front of the crate and snapped various shots of the weapons.

Collins threw the gun down and grabbed the unconscious Tully. He dragged him upright and rested him against the crate.

“One for the family album,” he said, smiling.

Jericho got the final photo, and they headed toward the shutters. Collins pressed the screen of his Tech Sleeve, and the doors began to open. Jericho glanced over at him, surprised.

Collins winked. “Told ya, Jerry. Tech stuff.”

They stepped out into the night. The calm breeze carried with it a chill brought in from the sea. They made their way across the lot, jumped over the barrier, and made a left toward their vehicle.

Jericho squeezed in behind the wheel. Collins slid in beside him. They pulled away without looking back; the mission was completed.

“What time’s the thing tomorrow?” asked Collins.

Jericho let out a deflated sigh. “Early afternoon. Just after lunch, I think.”

“Ah, we’ll be there in plenty of time.” There was a long pause. “Have ya… ah… have ya spoken to her?”

Jericho shook his head. “Not for a couple of days.”

“Things still a bit tense between ya?”

“I reckon she’s had other things on her mind.”

Collins nodded. “Aye. Aye, I reckon she has.”

Within minutes, they were speeding along the nearby freeway, heading to the private airfield, where a plane would take them back to Santa Clarita.

Danger Close

GlobaTech: Book 3

1

April 30, 2020

Julie Fisher stood silent and still, a frown etched onto her face. She concentrated on stopping any tears from flowing down her cheek. Her hands rested casually in the pockets of her black pantsuit. The jacket fit perfectly around the shape of her body, clinging to all the places it should cling, allowing her to look simultaneously stylish and professional. The breeze tugged at the lapel. Her gaze was occasionally distracted by leaves that blew into her periphery.

The funeral service had ended a half-hour ago. Her brothers and their families had left the cemetery, heading for her eldest sibling’s house. But she hadn’t been ready to leave. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye.

Her father had passed away peacefully a little over a week ago. Persistent, underlying health issues and age had caught up with him. A few of the nurses from his care home had come to the service to pay their respects. They gave Julie a polite embrace and expressed their condolences. For a brief moment, she had been angry, assuming they were fulfilling a duty in some way. That they were there because they had to be. But they had all been visibly, genuinely upset. They had cared for her father, which she was grateful for. They had told her he didn’t suffer. Up until the last couple of days, he was still cracking his awful jokes and making comments that were only appropriate because of his age. Julie had smiled, comforted by the fact that her father had still been the man she knew, right until the end.

She stared blankly at the grave and the coffin it now contained. Small piles of dirt had been splashed across it during the final part of the service. It would be filled in completely once everyone had left.

Flanking